Abstract
M.A. (Greek)
The main purpose of this study has been to investigate the work of Greek poets in
South Africa's Hellenic Diaspora from 1960 up to date, a period of a more voiummous
artistic production due to the noticeable increase in the number of new Hellene immigrants
and the innovative cultural atmosphere they brought along. Under this perspective, we
examined the forces which led individuals to artistic creation with special focus on the
relation between national identity and poetic production.
Research has initially been based on poem collections, personal interviews as well
as on newspaper articles, magazine publications and schedules of events which constitute our
primary resources. In due course, lexicons and encyclopaedias were used to clarify
terminology and semantics, as well as p!Cvious studies and relevant bibliography in order
to prove, substantiate and enrich our present study. Implementation of quantitative and
qualitative approaches with the use of questionnaires, interviews and data analysis rendered
our project the following form:
In the first chapter, Hellas is examined as the poets' country of origin in order to
investigate the possible historic and literary influences carried over by the Greek poets to
their new home. A history review of the period between the Second World War and 1974
was conducted examining the Hellenic socio-economic conditions predominant during the
said period, which are likely to have led individuals into emigrating, as well as the post-war
Hellenic literary development…